Drink Liberally? A visit to Thayer Street’s new hippie hangout

Reading period is the best time to read the Jolt. The summer, on the other hand, is weak; a quick read every few days is lucky to reveal even a handful of interesting threads. Still, great stuff sometimes appears. One such post, entitled “Blue State Coffee,” piqued my interest.

It turns out the new coffee place on Thayer Street does not even try to cover up its status as a hippie hideout. Its website, www.bluestatecoffee.com, boldly declares its motto – drink liberally. But 10% of all sales are donated to “progressive” causes, perhaps validating this not-so-subtle suggestion to (over?) consume their product. Between you and me, I wonder why the shop does not donate all profits instead of a fraction of total sales. Are they secretly money-loving capitalists?

I was inspired to do an undercover investigation. Spectator Editor-in-Chief, Pratik Chougule, had originally intended to accompany me, but his car mysteriously broke down only to resume working once the tow truck arrived. If somebody were sending me a message by sabotaging my first attempt, it did not work. I visited Blue State Coffee the next day. Having just presented my UTRA (Undergraduate Teaching Research Assistant) project at the summer research symposium, I was dressed up as a proper conservative and equipped to penetrate the liberal stronghold. Usually, I do not even consider myself a conservative, but I have to admit that conservatives have the whole formal attire thing down pat.

I confess that the place was impressive inside. It was clean, bright, and spacious. The relaxing atmosphere was much more comfortable than the bustling Starbucks. In true Commie style, it even has free Wi-Fi. The solid number of customers indicated that the shop was already growing in popularity. I cannot remember too much about the menu, but it seemed to have a lot of those drinks with tongue-twister names that you can get at Starbucks. One thing I will not forget is how the menu was written up in bold red, white, and blue chalk. The owners are patriotic, after all.

The barista’s fedora assured me that he was hip and that my iced coffee was hair free. He also handed me a wooden token with my order. Putting a token in one of several collection boxes helped the owners decide where to donate their proceeds. “Every vote counts,” the barista said. Bitter about the 2000 election, much? I donated 20 cents to the Even Start Association after purchasing my $2 iced coffee. And speaking of the coffee – despite that I am no connoisseur – it seemed pretty good once I added some organic milk and raw cane sugar.

I guess I had hoped to see some really crazy stuff going on so that I could write an equally crazy review. However, on the whole, owners Drew and Marshall Ruben have done a good job. A creative business model coupled with an attractive storefront have, as of this writing, already raised $10,000 of donations since the July opening, according to the ‘liberal drinker’ blog. And as corny as it sounds, that is what America should be all about.

I have but one quibble. To seduce customers primarily through their political conscience does not seem very sporting, especially when the owners have Brown University students as their customer base. They are shooting fish in a barrel.

Blue State Coffee will probably become ridiculously successful, but it will always be just plain ridiculous to me. Regardless, I wish it the best of luck in its venture.